A/N: Hullo there, my lovelies! Another update, and even though this one took time (my apologies) I hope you like it!
Thank you for the lovely reviews! I shall answer some of them here:
bon: Yes, I update along as I find inspiration to write, and I won't give up on this. Definately not. The day I do, look for the 'complete'-tag on the story x
Kylie & Suspianfan: I have had different stories and scenes stuck in my head for a while, especially a rated M-scene. I've decided to go along on that one, and even though I value your input and suggestions, I will draft my own idea for now, and if I'm happy with it, I'll publish. I hate to go against my readers, but sometimes, I have to decide what is best for my stories. Out of all the suspian-fanfictions I've read (a lot) nearly all of them contained a (mild) lemon, after their wedding. I want my stories to stand out, and therefore I will write my own take on such a scene. I will try and not disappoint you, but you can relax and find calm in the fact that it won't be out yet. Have patience, and for now, enjoy this silly little scene!
Alrighty, that's enough from me, and on with the story!
Sit back and enjoy!
"Keep your guard up, Ed!" Peter shouted across the clashing of blades as he watched a duel between his younger brother Edmund and Caspian some distance away. Edmund and Caspian's eyes were locked as they came at each other with their swords, sparring, blocking and attacking as they went. Edmund dropped his guard a moment too soon, and Caspian grasped the opportunity and attacked him from above, forcing him backwards. Edmund staggered back as he attempted to block Caspian's powerful attacks the best he could. Peter, however, noticed his brother were struggling. Edmund was an excellent swordsman, but he were still in his teenager body, resulting in less muscle force compared to Caspian's grownup body. And quite frankly, Caspian had put on a lot of muscle these last four years, whereas Edmund had attended school in England, with no opportunity whatsoever to pick up a sword.
Whilst pondering, he saw Edmund fall down onto his back on the grass with a heavy thump! Losing his sword in the process, he let out a discouraged groan. The tip of Caspian's sword was pointing down at him.
"I win," Caspian said with a grin as Edmund rolled his eyes with a scoff.
"Does his majesty want a medal?" he answered sarcastically, but couldn't help but share Caspian's grin when the latter offered him a hand to pull him up. Peter walked down to them and gave his younger brother a pat on the back.
"You'll get there, Ed," he told him ardently with a smile. Edmund brushed his pants.
"I feel betrayed by my own body," he told them, nodding down to his lank and lean body and Peter crossed his arms across his firm chest.
"I suppose travelling between two worlds and time will do that to you!" Peter said, earning him a sour look from Edmund. Edmund definitely didn't appreciate being thrown back and forth from adult to youngster.
"Well, I'm glad that's over," Edmund told them honestly, knowing that Peter was glad to be home as well. In the end, Narnia was their home, and even though they had family in England, they could never go back, and was satisfied with the knowledge that they would meet again someday in Aslan's Country.
"That makes two of us," Peter agreed.
"Three," Caspian chimed in as he grabbed a goblet of water, and the three Kings smiled warmly.
The royals had spent the day out in the training fields, away from the last preparations in the castle, and made merry with sword practise and the like. The three boys were not too far away from a large, open group tent in the colour of red and Narnian markings.
They all sated their thirst with a goblet of water from the tent and made their way back out to enjoy the sun.
"How do you feel about tomorrow, Ed?" Peter asked, looking directly at him with piercing blue eyes.
"Nauseated. Well, in a good way ... I think. Oh, I don't know. I enjoy these balls just as much as you do, but don't you think it's a big fuss over nothing? I mean, going from 17 to 18 – again - isn't that grand," Ed told them as he sheathed his sword. Caspian lowered his goblet from his lips.
"Nonsense, Ed. You deserve it, and you sister has planned this for weeks. You don't want to disappoint her, do you? Besides, considering you have turned 18, King Edmund the Just, first of his name, shall have this day to be cherished and celebrated, everything in his honour," Caspian told him sincerely, and Peter gave his brother a look of agreement.
"Well, when you put it that way," he said with a grin. Peter nudged his shoulder before they took a big gulps from their goblets.
"Speaking of sisters, where's Lucy and Susan?" Edmund asked his fellow kings, as they had split up earlier that day.
"Lucy is here!" a female called from behind the tent. The three boys looked towards the voice and saw Lucy trotting their way, rounding the tent. She stopped her bay gelding with black mane before the Kings with her usual smile across her naturally pink lips.
"Good day, gentlemen," she told them with twinkling eyes.
"Lost Eustace on your way, did you?" Peter asked her half-seriously, as she had rode off with Eustace earlier that day to make him accustomed to horse riding out in the terrain. She frowned before looking behind her. She turned in the saddle even further.
"Eustace, come on! You're not supposed to let him graze!" she called from behind her, and soon they saw another horse, a white sturdy one with gray mane trot along with perked ears to join them. Eustace looked uncomfortable in the saddle, as he humped not too graciously up and down. He pulled the horse into an abrupt stop, if not a little unsteadily.
"Well, hadn't he been so strong, I wouldn't have let the nag graze either!" Eustace told her as he shifted uncomfortably in the black leather saddle and pulled the horse's head back up as it attempted to graze once more.
"I see you've come along!" Caspian told the boy, hinting to his first riding lesson, where he had practically flown through the air as the horse had thrown him off for pulling his reins and kicking him too hard. Edmund and Peter snickered at the memory. Eustace truly earned respect for horses that day.
"Indeed, you even managed to stay in the saddle this time," Edmund noted, making Eustace grimace at him.
"Oh, hilarious, cousin, truly," he responded, once again pulling the horse's head up.
"Don't mind them, Eustace. I think you are doing great! Edmund didn't look too good in the saddle on his first lesson, either. Poor Philip must've felt uncomfortable with you humping like a bag of potatoes on his back!" Lucy said with a laugh, and Edmund frowned at her. The boys looked at him expectantly.
"Well, he did express his discomfort and told me off … Frequently," he told them as he crossed his arms. They all laughed as they tried to visualize it.
"So, where's Susan?" Lucy asked as the laughter died down.
"Down at the archery range. She said she was going mounted this time. Mentioned something about being out of shape," Peter told her as he pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, and Lucy looked between her horse's ears and over their heads, seeing the horseback archery range emerging out from the woods further down the field. The woods were a part of half the range, whilst the other half ended in more challenging targets out in the field. She could spot the target plates, with red-tipped arrows in them. Her sister had probably gone through the range more than once that day.
"She's not too out of shape it seems," Lucy told them as she noticed Susan had hit each one in the centre, not a single target missing. Soon, the royals heard the sounds of thundering hooves from a distance, and as they listened, the High Queen herself rode out from the woods on her horse in a powerful gallop.
"Look!" Lucy exclaimed, and they all turned towards the range. They saw Susan preparing an arrow and not many seconds later, fired it gracefully into a plate. Her dark hair was up in a messy bun, and her quiver was fastened at the saddle behind her thigh. Eustace gasped at the glorious sight, and he had to admit, his cousin looked positively deadly with her bow.
Caspian smiled as the Queen released an arrow as she twisted delicately in the saddle. Her brows where furrowed in concentration and her full lips pursed. He found that he could watch her do what she did best all day. She was like a deadly storm, yet so blindingly beautiful.
Susan notched a new arrow and hit another red target plate with a THUCK! Grasping two arrows from her quiver, she took one between her lips as she quickly readied the other. She pulled the powerful bowstring back before immediately releasing it. She then proceeded to take the arrow she had between her lips and fire it off, hitting the last and almost too sudden, target plate. The arrow hit with such force that the entire tip broke through the backside of the thick wooden plate. The old arrow fell down to the grass in splinters as the new arrow vibrated at the impact.
Having finished the round, Susan lowered her bow, grasped the reins and sat back in the saddle. She slowed the horse down into a canter, patting her neck with a bright smile. Lucy called on her sister and waved her arm over her head to get her attention. Susan noticed, and turned her horse upwards towards her family.
Caspian, Peter and Edmund stepped back as she cantered up to them, halting the raven black, panting horse before them. She was equally breathless as she loosened the reins and patted the horse's sweaty neck.
"Nice round!" Lucy complimented with a bright smile.
"Thanks. I missed the last one in the first round, had to go again," she said between breaths with a smile. She slumped in the saddle as she unfastened the quiver and dropped it together with her bow on the ground.
"Out of shape, I see?" Edmund teased, and she shot him a glare.
"Shamefully so, yes, I admit I am," she told him as she untightened the leather strap that held her hair back (barely anymore) and let her thick hair fall down to her waist in dishevelled waves. She briefly met Caspian's gaze with a smile, making him swallow. He returned to his goblet to prevent himself from saying something that would earn him a fist to the face from Peter.
"And yet you completed the range without a single miss. I don't see the problem here, cousin," Eustace said as he looked at her from atop his horse. He still had to look up at her however, as she had the tallest horse, not to mention the heaviest.
"The problem here, Eustace, is that I ought to be in better shape. And you shouldn't let that horse graze," she reminded him with a twinkle in her eyes. Eustace groaned as he pulled his horse up again. The horse did not seem to mind as he was chewing happily on a mouthful of grass. The others laughed merrily at the sight.
"Maybe your age is catching up on you, Su," Edmund challenged with a smirk, and she shot him a faked expression of offence.
"Why, I can say the same to you, brother. Couldn't even beat Caspian in a sword match, tut-tut," she told him and shot him an innocent smile. Edmund frowned, making the others chuckle. Caspian, standing by her mare's shoulder, looked up at the female rider.
"Saw that, did you?" he asked her with a toothy smile.
"Mhm. You had him good there, well done," she said as she smiled down at him proudly.
"Thank you, new technique. I call it 'knock Ed down before he knows what hit him'," he told her as he crossed him arms across his chest, making them all laugh.
"That was a dirty move," Edmund argued humorously.
"Says the one who deliberately knocked my arrow off course the other day!" Susan said disapprovingly, only making Edmund's grin widen.
"You were going to win anyways, why couldn't I have some fun whilst losing?" he asked her, and she shook her head at him.
"Because it's wrong. Cheaters never prosper, you know," she told him with a small grin.
"How can I prosper when you're supposedly the best archer in the entire kingdom?" he asked her wickedly, making his older sister sigh in exasperation.
"You can still be an honest player, Ed" she told him. He snorted.
"That isn't a privilege when I'm shooting against my sister, the Archer Queen."
"Cheater."
"Smart-arse."
"Alright you two, you are giving me a headache!" Peter exclaimed as he shared in their grins. Caspian, Eustace and Lucy were trying the best they could to keep a straight face. But as they looked at each other, they laughed merrily once more.
"Do you see what I have to deal with, here?" Peter asked Caspian light-heartedly with a sideways smile as he gestured towards his bickering siblings, making Caspian chuckle and scratch the back of his neck.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," he replied honestly with a lopsided smile.
Lucy and Susan grinned at each other before Lucy spoke:
"Perhaps you would indulge me in dagger throwing, Su?"
"I would, if I was certain you wouldn't graze my head with a knife this time," she responded cheekily.
"Oh, come on, that was one time! Are you calling me a bad shot, dear sister?" Lucy asked, making her snicker.
"You said it, not I!" she responded, making Lucy tightening her reins suspiciously.
"Oh yeah? Well, come over here and I'll show you who's a bad shot!" Lucy told her.
"You'd have to get me first!" Susan told her whilst shortening her reins and turned her horse the opposite way. Caspian made way for the big animal.
"Come here, you! Oh, I'll get you! Get her, Dash!" Lucy shouted to her horse and urged it forward. "Keep dreaming!" Susan shouted over her shoulder, already riding away from her in a fresh gallop, standing up in the saddle.
The girls' laughter could be heard throughout the fields as Lucy chased her across it, leaving the boys laughing at the sight. Eustace's old gelding were more taken with the grass under his hooves rather than running after his comrades, much to his rider's relief.
Susan's horse galloped across the field, tearing up grass with its hooves as it went. Lucy, even though struggling to keep up, had a big twinkling smile upon her lips.
They changed course and raced up to their family.
Susan got there first and patted her mare's neck gratefully.
"Just you wait, I'll get you some day," Lucy told her with a mischievous grin as she trotted down beside her sister. The two horses hung their heads as they started lipping at each other.
"Whatever you say," Susan said breathlessly. "Now, come on, I'll throw daggers with you," Lucy's older sister said before they rode down to the range.
"Don't be late, girls! I think I will head up. I promised Bellwether I would get my clothes fitted for tomorrow," Peter told them whilst picking up his sword.
"Have fun with that. We'll be back soon." Susan called back.
"Good. Now, come on, Eustace!" Edmund called back to his cousin, before the three Kings made their way up to the castle. Eustace however, was having troubles pulling his horse away from the tuft of grass on the ground. Cursing the animal, he used all his strength to receive the horse's attention, but to no avail.
Caspian came to his rescue, bent down to grab the horse's reins, and pulled the animal up and forward.
"Thank you," Eustace thanked him with a sigh as he slumped in the saddle and let Caspian lead the horse up to the stables.
On their way, they could hear Lucy's triumphant cry, and they saw the two sisters standing side by side as they threw daggers in turn with their horses grazing not too far off.
A/N: Alrighty, this did not turn out as I visualized in the beginning. A somewhat meaningless one-shot I suppose, but I will post it anyway, as it is a "family"-moment for my beloved characters.
I hope you liked it, and the next one will evolve around Edmund's birthday party! I apologize for the late delay, and hopefully it won't be long before I update once again.
So, please leave a review if you want improvements (I aspire to become a better writer, despite English not being my mother tongue). I heart all of my readers, and know that I am grateful for every favourite, follower and review!
Have a great weekend, and until next time, take care!
Dragon x
